Digital archaeology

This article is about the subdiscipline of archaeology. For the 2010 exhibition, see Digital Archaeology (exhibition).

Digital archaeology is the application of information technology and digital media to archaeology.[1][2] It includes the use of digital photography, 3D reconstruction, virtual reality, and geographical information systems, among other techniques.[3] Computational archaeology, which covers computer-based analytical methods, can be considered a subfield of digital archaeology, as can virtual archaeology.[4]

The use of digital technology to conduct archaeological research allows data to be collected without the invasion or destruction of archaeological sites and the cultural heritage they hold, aiding the preservation of archaeological data. This is how many early archaeological sites were discovered in-depth.[5] Applications of this technology have aided the reconstruction of historical monuments and artefacts such as pottery, human fossils, and mummified remains.[1]

  1. ^ a b Evans, Thomas Laurence; Daly, Patrick T. (2006). Digital Archaeology: Bridging Method and Theory. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415310482 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Morgan, Colleen; Eve, Stuart (2012-12-01). "DIY and digital archaeology: what are you doing to participate?". World Archaeology. 44 (4): 521–537. doi:10.1080/00438243.2012.741810. ISSN 0043-8243. S2CID 143125582.
  3. ^ Richter, Ashley (18 July 2014). "So What is Digital Archaeology?". Popular Archaeology. Retrieved 2017-07-08.Archived 2014-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Zubrow, Ezra B. W. (2006). "Digital Archaeology: A historical context". In Evans, Thomas Laurence; Daly, Patrick T. (eds.). Digital Archaeology: Bridging Method and Theory. London: Routledge. pp. 10–32. ISBN 9780415310482 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Lasaponara, Rosa; Masini, Nicola (2016), "Living in the Golden Age of Digital Archaeology", Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2016, Springer International Publishing, pp. 597–610, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-42108-7_47, ISBN 978-3-319-42107-0